White film on surface, concepts on clearing

[clubbby]

Hello,

First off I'm new here and new to salter aquariums so hello all. As you can probably gather from the title, I have a white film gathering on the top of my tank. I've done some research and it sounds like this is protien scum.

I know the obvious solution to this is a protien skimmer, but it's something we are hoping to avoid due to asthetics and cost. Those things are large both in cost and in size.

In a previous thread I found right on this very forum, it suggested increasing surface agitation and some other solutions that were specific so a sump, which we do not have. We do have a dead area on the surface of our tank, which is where this film is gathering, and I think I could handle having another powerhead over there to agitate the surface but my concern is that breaking up the protien film from the surface really isn't getting rid of it.

Besides having live rock we also have a HOB filter. My thinking is if we can break up these particles and push them towards the filter then perhaps it can suck them in? But I fear I may misunderstand how that works and that might not be viable at all.

My girlfriend also suggested that perhaps it's an issue with not having a complete cycle. We just barely setup this tank a few weeks ago, in fact out nitrite levels JUST dropped so we are going out to get our CUC tonight (very excited) so perhaps the problem might just solve itself?

[Reefing Madness]

Without knowing the size of your tank, anything over 29g should have a skimmer. With that said, you should also have at least 10x your water turn over rate. So if your tank is 55g you should have at least 2 powerheads in the tank, on opposite side of the tank, middle topish of the tank, making a ripple across the water surface, they don't need to blow directly at the top just across the top. And yes, you will be just scattering it into the tank, and your filter may catch some, but not to worry, if you have enough Live Rock in the tank, the biologicals will take care of some of that also, but to get your water in good condition, we do water changes, this prevents this protein and nutrients from building up. So, if you do not have a skimmer, I would suggest that you do 10% water changes weekly, and check on those powe heads.

[Chasman]

Clubbby

Easy fix for your problem. Go to Marine Depot (or your favorite supply site) and search for "Tom Aquatics Aquarium Surface Skimmer". I have had these things for years on small tanks with HOB filters and they work great. You may or may not like the looks of it, but it will completely rid you of the surface scum. I had the same problem on my initial 29gal. I plumbed this through a Fluval 205 in 2009 and to this day, no surface scum. I also have one on my 10gal quarantine tank on a Marineland HOB. You need to get a little creative on plumbing it and getting it to look like it belongs there, but it can be done. Takes a little fussing with to get it dialed in too. But once you get it, it works well.

Chasman

[clubbby]

Thanks for the info!

Yes I suppose knowing the size of my tank would help matters, wouldn't it? It's 55g, light on the live rock side, about 8lbs if memory serves. I will definitely get another powerhead in there and will look in to the surface skimmer as recommended by Chasman.

We went to our LFS last night and they said we would NEED a protien skimmer, tho I could probably wait a few months before not having one has an adverse adverse effect on the water quality. While it's definitely a reputable store I'm always suspicious of if I actually need it or they just wish to sell the product, but hearing it here makes me understand the need.

I'll do my homework on the skimmers. We just ordered an RO system so 10% weekly water changes should be just fine until then.

[Reefing Madness]

[clubbby]

In my search I stumbled across this, http://www.amazon.com/Red-Sea-Airlif...71367&sr=1-212. It looks promising and being clear it's not bad, from an asthetic standpoint, and I happen to have an air pump that I'm not using, but are these any good? As you can see there are no reviews on it. Is it safe for a reef setup?

That aside, the most promising thing I've found is a bak pak 2R+. More than I want to spend but what can you do? Does anyone know if there are surface skimmer attachments for these? Does one really need one?

[Reefing Madness]

In my search I stumbled across this, http://www.amazon.com/Red-Sea-Airlif...71367&sr=1-212. It looks promising and being clear it's not bad, from an asthetic standpoint, and I happen to have an air pump that I'm not using, but are these any good? As you can see there are no reviews on it. Is it safe for a reef setup?

That aside, the most promising thing I've found is a bak pak 2R+. More than I want to spend but what can you do? Does anyone know if there are surface skimmer attachments for these? Does one really need one?

Your better off without one, that one is not going to work very well for you at all. Its Reef safe. The bak-pak is much better.
And what were you wanting to spend? All depends on where yoiu get it.
Here is a much better one than the Bak-Pak, and around the same price.
Reef Octopus Hang-on-the-Back Skimmer OCT-BH100 - English

[clubbby]

Your better off without one, that one is not going to work very well for you at all. Its Reef safe. The bak-pak is much better.
And what were you wanting to spend? All depends on where yoiu get it.
Here is a much better one than the Bak-Pak, and around the same price.
Reef Octopus Hang-on-the-Back Skimmer OCT-BH100 - English

That looks great! I think we'll get just that. I was really hoping for under $100, but from the sounds of it we don't need to get this right away, so the time buffer makes that perfectly affordable down the time.

[Reefing Madness]